Eat This Food To Instantly Kill Your Holiday Sugar Cravings

The holidays are filled with family and festivities—and holiday cookies and treats everywhere. Gingerbread, candy canes, hamantaschen, and more fill the office and every party, and even the person with the strongest willpower can have a hard time steering clear. So what's a health-minded person to do? Because, let's be honest, those cookie cravings can be strong, and that veggie tray isn't going to cut it.

My top go-to choice to satisfy my sweet tooth, while simultaneously not triggering inflammation, digestive, and blood sugar problems is a little guy that goes by the name of fat bomb.

What are fat bombs?

Fat bombs are super-healthy and—arguably just as important for the busy holidays—super simple to make.

These tasty treats are high in, you guessed it, fats. As a functional medicine practitioner, my goal is to use food as delicious medicine wherever possible. Healthy fats are a slow, sustainable form of energy. Unlike the sugary roller coaster many find themselves on during the holidays that leave you feeling fatigued and bloated, healthy fats will be a steady, balanced (and sweet) fuel for you. In short: If you focus on eating healthy fats, it will curb those sugar cravings that make you a hangry monster (for more on crushing cravings, check out this article for all the sciencey reasons behind why we crave sugar).

Your brain is your fattest body part, made up of around 60 percent fat. Before you punch me, it's not just you, we are all fatheads since birth, coming out of the womb relying on fat in the form of breast milk for brain development and energy. Even if you weren't breastfed, what is added to formulas to mimic breast milk? MCT oil derived from coconut and palm oil—otherwise known as healthy fats.

For your brain to work properly, it requires a lot of energy. From a biological and evolutionary perspective, the most sustainable form of energy for your brain and body is healthy fats—not sugar.

Giving our bodies fat instead of sugar to burn, the ketogenic diet has been shown to do some remarkable things for our brain and metabolic health. But even if you're not going full keto (and I'm not going to blame you for that, especially during the holidays), eating high-fat foods can help with satiation and satisfaction, making you full and happy enough to say no to any holiday treat. In fact, because of their high-fat content, eating a fat bomb actually feels like a treat unto itself, especially if you use holiday flavors, as I did below.

Fat bombs use healthy fats like:

coconut oil

coconut cream

MCT oil

avocado oil

nut butters and oil

grass-fed ghee or butter

So before you go to the next ugly-Christmas-sweater party, come prepared. Skip the cookie table and drop an F(at) bomb. These are my favorite holiday-flavored fat bombs.

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Cocoa Almond Butter Fat Bombs

Ingredients

¼ cup virgin coconut oil

¼ cup almond butter

1 ounce unsweetened baking chocolate

1 tablespoon cocoa

½ teaspoon stevia drops

Method

On low heat, melt the ingredients, stirring continuously so as to not burn. Alternatively, you can use a chocolate melter or double boiler.

Pour into silicone molds. You can use holiday shapes like snowmen, snowflakes, candy canes, or Christmas trees.

Freeze until they harden.

Remove from silicone molds.

Store in the freezer in a sealed container.

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Chocolate Peppermint Macadamia Nut Bombs

Ingredients

½ cup virgin coconut oil

½ cup cocoa

5 drops food-grade peppermint essential oil or extract

¼ cup finely chopped macadamia nuts

pinch of finely ground sea salt

½ teaspoon stevia drops

Method

On low heat, melt the ingredients, stirring continuously so as to not burn. Alternatively, you can use a chocolate melter or double boiler.

Pour into silicone molds. You can use holiday shapes like snowmen, snowflakes, candy canes, or Christmas trees.

Freeze until they harden.

Remove from silicone molds.

Store in the freezer in a sealed container.

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Coconut Lemon Fat Bombs

Ingredients

½ cup virgin coconut oil

½ cup coconut butter

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon lemon zest

½ teaspoon stevia drops

Method

On low heat, melt the ingredients, stirring continuously so as to not burn. Alternatively, you can use a chocolate melter or double boiler.

Pour into silicone molds. You can use holiday shapes like snowmen, snowflakes, candy canes, or Christmas trees.

William Cole, D.C.

Functional Medicine Practitioner

Dr. Will Cole, leading functional medicine expert, graduated from Southern California University of Health Sciences as a doctor of chiropractic. His extensive postdoctorate education and training is in functional medicine and clinical nutrition. Dr. Cole consults people around the world via webcam and locally in Pittsburgh. He specializes in clinically investigating underlying factors and customizing health programs for thyroid issues, autoimmune conditions, hormonal dysfunctions, digestive disorders and brain problems. Visit www.drwillcole.com for free e-books, recipes, and webcam evaluation.